"Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon. . . " McConnell channels Major Strasser. "Of what value is that? You may recall what RINO guarantees have been worth in the past."

"Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us". -- Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) Chap. 44, verse 1.)

I learned yesterday afternoon in a spate of panicked phone calls from friends and fellow freedom fighters that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had been found dead at a West Texas ranch.

A long-time friend sent along the links with this anguished comment and accompanying verses: "As for me, I can think of no adequate epitaph other than David's lament for Saul and Jonathan."

 ¹⁷ And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, ¹⁸ and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said:  “Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!  How the mighty have fallen!
²⁰ Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. 

²¹ “You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings!
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. 

²² “From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back,
    and the sword of Saul returned not empty. 

²³ “Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. 

²⁴ “You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet,
    who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. 

²⁵ “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! “Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
²⁶     I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me;
    your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. 

²⁷ “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!”

Almost immediately we had this announcement from the spaghetti-spined Mitch McConnell: "No vote on Scalia replacement under Obama." Yeah, right. To paraphrase Ilsa in Casablanca, "Of what value is that? You may recall what RINO guarantees have been worth in the past." Indeed. Does anyone over the age of five believe that McConnell, Ryan and Company won't contrive to sell us out once again?

A friend and long-time DC observer writes:

"The death of Justice Scalia will significantly exacerbate social divisions and conflict, but it is a good thing in the sense that it will ABSOLUTELY resonate with voters--and brings fresh meaning to the notion that one is not only electing a President, one is electing a person who will fill vacancies on the Supreme Court, something I think most people have realized given the age of the Justices. It also demonstrates how fragile some of the recent gains, i.e., in 2nd Amendment are. It is fairly well agreed upon that had Heller come up before a differently composed Supreme Court, the decision could have been different. It seems, by definition, that his death will significantly impact the 2016 Presidential election, regardless of whether Obama nominates a replacement or not. On another level, I believe Justice Scalia's death is a significant movement towards the social chaos that is inevitably going to descend upon the entire population of the United States, because of the reach of the Supreme Court and the notion of a new balance arising within it."

As for me, Scalia's death is merely one more portent of the civil war soon to come.